Students showcase trade skills at competitive event as US aims to solve skilled labor shortage
The conference allowed 6,800 students to compete across different trades and leadership fields
SkillsUSA conference draws thousands of attendees
SkillsUSA’s National Leadership & Skills Conference had more than 17,500 attendees this week, as students competed against each other across 114 different trades and leadership fields. (Credit: Skilled Careers Coalition)
Thousands flocked to a workforce development organization's annual conference this week, which focuses on giving the next generation of skilled workers the opportunity to network with employers and test their abilities in competitions.
More than 17,500 people – including students, teachers and industry leaders – attended SkillsUSA’s National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta between Tuesday and Friday, the organization's website noted.
Hosted at the Georgia World Congress Center, SkillsUSA's conference celebrated the workforce development organization reaching its highest membership numbers in its history this year with more than 443,000 student and teacher members. The conference featured more than 200 exhibitors "eager to meet the next generation of skilled professionals and career-ready leaders," according to a news release from SkillsUSA.
SKILLED WORKERS ARE IN DEMAND, THESE TRADE JOBS PAY THE MOST
The conference, touted as the largest gathering of the country's future skilled workforce, simultaneously allowed 6,800 students to compete against each other across 114 different trades and leadership fields. The week-long event also had keynote speakers, hands-on activities, leadership trainings and more.
"Thanks to our growing alliance of committed, like-minded partners, we are reaching young people where they are to influence career decisions while creating a robust pipeline for recruitment," Mark Hedstrom, executive director of the Skilled Careers (Skilled Careers Coalition )
During the event, the Skilled Careers Coalition – a group that focuses on connecting skilled trade workers with industry leaders – also hosted a range of initiatives to "address the most pressing challenges between the skilled trades sector and the shrinking labor pool," according to an announcement from the coalition.
MIKE ROWE WARNS OF TROUBLING TREND AMONG WORKING-AGE MEN, SAYS TRADES ARE THE ANSWER
This included a gathering in which content creators, staff from elected officials' offices and representatives from companies like Lowe's, TikTok and John Deere, discussed how cross-sector collaboration can be used to close the skilled trades workforce gap and recruit the next generation of professionals, the announcement noted.
Students showcase trade skills at Georgia event
FOX Business correspondent Ashley Webster discusses the SkillsUSA Championships in Atlanta on ‘The Big Money Show.’
"Thanks to our growing alliance of committed, like-minded partners, we are reaching young people where they are to influence career decisions while creating a robust pipeline for recruitment," Mark Hedstrom, executive director of the Skilled Careers Coalition, said in a statement.
DEMAND FOR SKILLED WORKERS ON THE RISE
More than 1 million trade jobs remain unfilled in the U.S., driven by an aging and retiring workforce as well as a societal bias toward college degrees, according to Forbes.
More than a million trade jobs remain unfilled in the U.S., driven by an aging and retiring workforce as well as a societal bias toward college degrees. (Skilled Careers Coalition / Fox News)
"The time is now to move further and faster in addressing the gap between supply and demand for skilled talent as the sector faces even greater pressures from housing shortages, reshoring of manufacturing and booming industries like robotics and mechatronics, which are putting added stress on an already tight labor market," Hedstrom said.
While the demand for skilled workers has surged, recent college graduates, on the other hand, face a different reality. Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated the labor market "deteriorated noticeably" in the first quarter of 2025, with those just entering the workforce taking the hardest hits.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
The highest-paying trade jobs in 2024 included ultrasonographer, respiratory therapist, dental hygienist, construction manager and airport mechanic, according to Indeed.
FOX Business' Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.